For the Love of a Child
by IWillWaitForYou
Summary: Derek and Addison learn they can't have children so they adopt two perfect angels instead. 5 year old Lacy and 10 year old Caleb are just what the family needs to be complete but can Derek and Addison help Caleb heal from his memories of the abuse he suffered from his birth parents while protecting his sister Lacy? Just a sweet fluffy story with a dark and twisty side Give it a try
1. Chapter 1

**For the Love of a Child**

**AN: So my laptop charger broken the other day and I had to order a new one so in the mean time, I'm using my aunt's which means I have the perfect reason to start a new fic. This is just an idea and unless I get some feedback it probably won't be continued but I really want to write it and get it out there. So read, review, ENJOY!**

**Summary: Derek and Addison adopt a young boy that was previously abused after learning that Addison can't have children. EDIT SUMMARY**

Addison POV

_"You have PCOS." Nancy sighed scanning my face for emotions._

_"What?" Derek asked_

_"Polycystic ovary syndrome." I told him._

_"Which means?" _

_"It explains why Addison hasn't had any success getting pregnant and why she had a miscarriage." Nancy explained._

_"PCOS causes repeated miscarriages and infertility. I can't have children." I told him numbly._

_"It will be ok Addie, we'll figure something out." Derek whispered taking my hand in his and squeezing._

_"You still have a lot of options." Nancy suggested._

_"I just can't believe this is happening." I said having tears escape my eyes._

_Derek moved from his chair in Nancy's office to wrap his arms around me. "We're going to be ok. Addie, everything's going to be fine." He mumbled._

It's hard to believe just three months ago I learned I could never have children. That's what brings us here today, to the group home. We decided to give a child a home that needs a family that no one would likely adopt rather than a baby who is in high demand. Derek pulled into the house's driveway and parked the car.

"Are you ready?" He asked me.

"Very." I told him.

We got out of the car and made our way to the door of the house. Derek knocked and we anxiously waited to be greeted. We had been approved to adopt so today would be the day we found a child.

The door began to open and we saw a very excited little girl with curly blonde hair and crystal blue eyes. "HI! I'm Lacy! Welcome to our home. Please come in." She gave us a huge smile and revealed her missing front teeth. My heart melted.

"Why hello Ms. Lacy." Derek said causing her to giggle in her bell like voice.

"You must be Dr. and Dr. Shepherd. I'm Susan Clarke the mother of the house. Why don't you come back to my office and we can discuss the children and then you can get to know them." A friendly woman said as more children arrived in the living rom.

"Call us Derek and Addison please but yes that would be lovely." I said.

"We will see you in a little bit." Derek said to Lacy as we both followed Susan to a room with a desk and chairs.

"Have a seat." Susan told us taking the seat behind the desk. "So, this is one of the group homes in Connecticut and we house children from 5 to 10. Do you have any age or gender preferences?"

"Not really. We just want to give a child a loving home." Derek told her.

"Well in that case, we have a lot to work with." She smiled. "I have 10 children here, 5 girls and 5 boys. I will give you their files to look over and you can tell me if any catch your eyes." She handed us a stack of files and we each took 5.

I began flipping through them trying to put names with faces so I could talk to the kids when we were allowed to. I came across Lacy's file and was curious so I decided to look over it. Lacy Harris was her name and she was almost 6. I already had a good feeling about this little angel and Derek seemed to like her from the brief moment we met her. I put the files back on the desk.

"Are you ready to meet the children?" Susan asked us.

"Yes that would be great." Derek told her.

"Right this way." She said getting up from her chair and walking out of the office. We followed behind her. "KIDS! COME ON DOWNSTAIRS!" She called. I heard the sound of little footsteps running down the stairs before 9 children arrived in front of us, Lacy leading the pack. I couldn't help but wonder where the tenth was. "These people are Dr. and Dr. Shepherd. They are here to meet you all and get to know you. I suspect you will all be polite." She said as they all smiled.

Little Lacy came up to us first and took my hand wanting to whisper to me. I knelt down to her level as she stood on her tip toes to whisper. "I'm the best one." She giggled.

I couldn't help but smile at the sweet angelic girl in front of me. Most of the kids wandered off to do their own thing, the boys going outside, the girls going back upstairs, but not Lacy. She stayed by our side.

"Do you want to show us around?" Derek asked her.

"Yeah!" She cheered happy to have our company. "You can see my room!" She was very excited now. We followed her up the stairs and into a lilac colored room with two sets of bunk beds. "I share with Madison, Kara, and Kylan." She explained.

"Do you like purple?" I asked her.

"Sometimes but I like all colors. Yellow, pink, purple, lime green, they are all so pretty." She flashed us another gorgeous smile as she plopped on one of the beds. "You can sit down if you want." She told us.

Derek and I sat down beside her on the bed. "So Lacy, what do you like to do?" Derek asked. He always had had a way with children but seeing him with Lacy, a potential daughter of ours, was different. It melted my heart.

"I love to color, and play with dolls. Oh I like sports too and reading. Ms. Susan says I'm an excellent reader." She said excitedly.

"Have any favorite books?" Derek asked.

"Magic Tree House books are my favorite. They are so good." She explained.

If she was already reading chapter books in kindergarten she must be exceptionally bright. "I like those too." Derek said.

"I like you two." She told us causing us to both smile at her bluntness.

"We like you too." I told her.

"Do you want to meet my brother?" She asked.

"You have a brother?" Derek asked with a tiny bit of excitement in his voice. He always wanted a son.

"Yeah but he doesn't come down when people come to meet us. You have to be really nice to him because he gets kind of scared around new people." She told us.

"We will be very nice." I told her.

"Ok, follow me." She said getting up from her bed and reaching for my hand. We followed her down a different hallway to the room at the very end. She knocked her tiny fist on the door. "Bubba, it's me. Can I come in? There are people I want you to meet." She called.

"Yeah I guess." A little boy's voice called back.

She pushed open the door to reveal a blonde boy who appeared to be 9 or 10 sitting in a chair with his back to us. "Caleb, this is Dr. and Dr. Shepherd. They are here to meet us all and I like them so I thought you would too."

The little boy hesitantly turned to look at us revealing what seemed to be a cheek bone that never healed properly. Any normal person probably would assume it was a birth defect but having the trained eye of a physician, I knew what I saw. "Hi Caleb, I'm Addison and this is Derek." I said gently so I wouldn't frighten him.

"Nice to meet you." He said getting up and holding his hand out to me and then to Derek being a gentleman.

"Nice to meet you too." Derek told him. "So we were talking to your sister about what she liked so what about you? What do you like to do?"

"I like to play outside, especially baseball and read. I want to learn guitar but I haven't yet, and I love to fish." Derek's eyes lit up like a little boy on Christmas morning. This child sounded like the child version of Derek.

"Fishing is one of my favorite things too." Derek told him.

The boys began talking about bait and reels while Lacy looked at me and smiled. "Do you know how to braid hair?" She asked.

"I do. Would you like me to do yours?" I asked.

"Yes please." She smiled.

I sat down and she plopped in my lap. I began running my fingers through her soft hair making sure there were no tangles before I began to French braid her hair into two pigtails. By the time I was finished, it was time for us to go. We promised the kids we would be back to visit soon and both headed down to Susan's office.

"We have to take them." Derek said to me quietly as we approached the office.

"That's exactly what I was thinking." I answered.

We knocked on the door and Susan answered revealing a lady with a little boy that must be new that looked very scared. "Kelley, you can get Jack settled into the first door to your left upstairs, Derek, Addison, come in." The lady took the young boy as we both replaced their spots in the chairs. "So, have you decided on anything?" She asked us.

"We would like Lacy and Caleb." I told her.

"You don't know how long I've waited to hear someone say that. Everyone is only willing to take on one child and neither would leave without the other. So Caleb actually spoke to you? That's an improvement already."

"Yes he was a perfect gentleman." I told her

"We talked about fishing." Derek said excitedly.

"That boy loves to fish." She agreed. "So I'm required to make you sleep on the decision and call back in the morning and you will need to have another home study. Most parents take this time to prepare the house and buy things like clothes and toys for the kids while they wait. While the house is being prepared, you are allowed to visit as much as you would like and once the house is ready, you may take the kids for what I call a test run. You take them in for a weekend and make sure they are comfortable and ready for a home. Then you wait a week and the adoption will be finalized."

"Can we get their clothes and shoes sizes?" I asked excited to shop.

"Of course, you can take the sheet they fill out about what they like and such as well." She said scrambling through papers before handing them over. "As soon as you call in the morning I can get the judge to begin processing the request and as soon as you finish with your home I can set up a home visit." She said with a smile on her face. "Again, thank you for taking them. You won't be disappointed."

Derek and I told her goodbye before making our way to the car. "They will be perfect for us." Derek told me.

"I know. I love them already." I told him.


	2. Chapter 2

Addison POV

It has been three days since we met Lacy and Caleb and we have been back to visit every single day. Today I have taken the day off work to go shopping for clothes, toys, furniture, paint, and anything else a child could ever need. To help me out, I brought along Nancy since she had kids about the same age. We decided to start with clothes. I drove us to the mall and we got out of the car. "So you need to tell me more about my new niece and nephew." She smiled.

"Well, Caleb is 10 and is practically a mini Derek." I told her.

"Uh oh, I can't handle another Derek." She joked.

"He's cute as a button. He's got a blonde shaggy hair and bright blue eyes. He's a perfect gentleman as well." I smiled.

"And Lacy?"

"She's the most outgoing, brightest, cutest, child I have ever met. She's reading chapter books in kindergarten. She's got long curly strawberry blonde hair and crystal blue eyes."

"She's already reading chapter books?" Nancy asked surprised.

"With ease. She loves Magic Tree House books."

"It took Noah up until 2nd grade to read those." She stated.

"See what I mean by bright?" I asked.

"Yeah I do." She said still with disbelief in her voice.

We made our way from store to store getting outfit after outfit for the kids. We loaded all the bags into the trunk which completely filled it and the back seat of my SUV. We decided to go to the local store that sold paints next. It was time for one of my favorite things, designing rooms. I got out my phone looking through the inspiration pictures I had found online. For Caleb's room, I decided on navy blue walls with a light green and light orange stripe. For Lacy's room I decided to paint the top half of the wall yellow and the bottom half with designs in lavender, pink, lime green, aqua blue, and white. I figured if she outgrew it we could paint over it later. We finally finished paying for all the paint and made our way to the furniture store. I wanted Caleb to have a bunk bed and Lacy to have a trundle bed. I also decided to get a new chest of drawers for each of them and some bean bag chairs to match their walls. The furniture would be delivered tomorrow so I decided to beat the painters home so the paint would have time to dry before the furniture got there.

After bringing bag after bag inside, the painters arrived and we showed them to each room and gave them the paint and Nancy and I went back downstairs and sorted through all the clothes and made their temporary home on the dining room table. Once all the clothes were sorted, we headed back out to the various toy stores and sporting good stores.

"How much do you know about the kids' pasts?" Nancy finally asked the question that I had been asking myself.

"Not much." I admitted "But we figure as they get more and more comfortable with us they will open up to us."

"That's a good point. You said something about Caleb's cheek bone. What happened there?"

"I don't know what exactly happened but it looks like he broke his cheek and it never healed properly. I'm going to talk to the group mom and see why it was never treated and we will probably have Mark look at it and see what he can do."

"I can't wait to meet them." She smiled.

"I want to gradually introduce them to the family, starting with your mother." She stuck her lip out "and then you of course." She perked up a bit. "I just don't want to overwhelm them."

"That's a good point I guess our family can be a bit overwhelming at times. Do you think you will all be able to make it to the family vacation in the Hamptons?"

"I hope we will have them by then."

"I'm sure you will. All that's left is the home study right? So that means as soon as the home's ready you're good to go."

"Basically yes and the rooms should be ready by tomorrow if I take the day off again."

"So they will be here very soon. When do you think you'll have them meet mom?"

"We have a test run thing where they stay with us for a weekend. I think I will have her over for dinner."

"That's a good idea. You should have her bring her macaroni, no child can resist her with that in their stomachs."

"That's a good idea." I said as I pulled into the parking lot at the sporting goods store.

We went inside and began looking for fun things. We decided on a basketball goal, some baseball bats and balls, a gymnastics mat for Lacy, and some play clothes for them both. Once everything was bought and loaded we made our way to the toy store in the same shopping center. We went inside and through isle after isle buying toy after toy. We finished by stopping at their newborn nursery they had set up. It had those dolls that look like real babies. We found one with the same strawberry blonde hair and crystal eyes as Lacy and bought tons of little pink clothes for her. We finally finished shopping and headed back to the house. We began unloading everything and again sorting through everything. We left the basketball goal in the car for Derek to deal with when he got home. The painters came downstairs and told us the paint was finished but wouldn't be dry until tomorrow morning.

Nancy and I had to get a sneak peak so we headed upstairs to their rooms. We opened the door to Caleb's room first and it looked perfect. The walls were mostly navy blue and there were two stripes, on lime green, one orange, on the top of the wall. We headed to Lacy's room next and it was gorgeous. The walls were yellow on the top half, and they were lime green, purple, and pink on the bottom with flowers and butterflies here and there. It was perfect for my little princess. We heard a car pull up and Nancy and I headed back down to greet Derek. Nancy told us both goodbye because she had to head home and get dinner started so it left just me and Derek.

Derek wrapped his arms around me. "How was your day at work?" I asked him.

"It was fine, a few craniotomies, nothing special. How was your day with Nancy? Get everything done?"

"Yes actually except for the decorations for the rooms. We bought all the clothes, toys, some basketball things, some baseball stuff, a trundle bed, a bunk bed, two chests of drawers, which brings me to a favor. The basketball goal is in the back of the car and I need you to set it up for me."

He laughed. "Of course I will set it up. What about fishing things?"

"I thought that could be your first bonding things with Caleb, let him pick out what he wants. Plus I'm not very bright when it comes to fishing."

"That is true." He joked. "You aren't very bright." I hit his arm. "I'm kidding gosh. I will get right to the goal. How would you like to go out to dinner tonight? We could pick out the decorations for their rooms." He suggested.

"Sounds lovely, can we go to the country club?" I asked. Ever since we followed the rest of the family's lead and moved out of the city and into Connecticut keeping our brownstone just in case, we had learned to enjoy non city lives. We joined a country club where Derek has taken up golf and I have taken up tennis.

"I don't see why not."

I headed inside to get cleaned up and dressed for dinner while Derek began setting up the basketball goal. Seeing as it is mid July, I decided on a white and yellow sundress. After fixing up my hair and makeup, I grabbed my bag and headed back outside. The goal was set up in the back yard and Derek was shooting some hoops which caused me to laugh. He would enjoy this just as much as the kids would. I went out to join him. "Hey I'm ready." I told him.

"Alright well I'm done here so we can go ahead and get going if you'd like."

"I think that would be perfect. I'm starving."

We got into the SUV again so we could fit everything we are planning on buying in the car. We got out of the car at the valet area and we both went inside sitting at our table. "What can I get you to drink?" The waiter asked.

"We'll have a bottle of the house wine please and some water as well." Derek said.

"Yes sir is there anything else I can get you?" The young waiter asked.

"Not yet we need a few moments to decide." Derek answered. The waiter left the table.

"So we officially only have a few weeks until we have kids." I said smiling.

"I'm so excited. We finally get to be parents." Derek beamed.

"I hope it's a smooth journey from here on out. I just want them so bad. I already feel like their mother."

"And I already feel like their father. They will make our family complete." He spoke with such confidence in his voice.

"Yes they will." I agreed. "Nancy has already decided they are coming on the family vacation to the houses in the Hamptons this year."

"I wouldn't have it any other way."

"I was thinking about Caleb and his little cheek bone, and I was wondering why we haven't discussed having Mark look at it. See if he can fix it. It's got to be painful."

"I think that would be a good idea. I still want to know how he got it."

"So do I that is why I think we should ask Susan what happened."

"Do you think they will ever open up to us about their pasts?"

"I hope so."

The waiter returned. He poured us the wine and set the bottle on the table. "What can I get you tonight?"

"I'll have the grilled tilapia with a side of broccoli and a side salad." Derek told him.

"And I would like the grilled lemon chicken with a side of sweet potatoes and a side Caesar salad." I told him.

"Sounds delicious, it shouldn't be too long until it's out. Anything else I can get you?"

"No that will be fine." Derek told him and we both went back to our discussion.

"Do you think they will ever call us mom and dad? I mean I'm not going to pressure them into it or anything but it would be nice one day." I smiled at the idea of being called mommy.

"I think one day they will. Once they get used to us and the idea of having parents."

The rest of dinner was spent talking about the kids and plans we had with them and eating our delicious dinners. Once we finished, we left and headed to an art store to look at paintings. We picked out a few for each room, Lacy's based on flowers and other girly things, Caleb's based on sports. We went to the furniture store again and got some lamps and curtains. We finished by going to the linen store and getting bed sheets and comforters. We finally arrived home and after unloading the newly bought items, we made our way to the bedroom and turned in for the night.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3:  
Addison POV  
It has been a week since we passed the home inspection and this is the weekend we get to have the kids. If all goes smoothly, this time next week they will be legally our son and daughter. I was sitting in my office at the practice anxiously awaiting my last patient so I could get out and go pick up Caleb and Lacy. I heard a knock on my door. "Come in." I called.  
"Your patient is here Dr. Shepherd. Would you like me to send in Dr. Holden-Shepherd to help deliver the news?" The nurse asked.  
"I will get her, just bring the patient back." I said politely.  
I sent Kathleen a quick text message and waited for her arrival. Kathleen, Lizzie, Nancy, Michael, Travis, and Nicholas were all in the same practice as Derek and I but Derek and Michael usually work in the hospital operating. We treat everything from babies, to sports injuries, to pregnant women here. We love the co-op practice because it gives us time to spend with each other and it's pretty great to work with family most of the time. Kathleen entered my office and smiled. "Hey I got your text. What news do we need to give?" She asked.  
"A 16 year old is pregnant and the baby is ancephalic."  
"Does she have anyone to support her? Her parents?"  
"No, I made an exception and treated her without consent since no serious medical treatment was needed."  
"You treated her without consent?"  
"She was desperate. She needed my help I couldn't turn her away."  
"I understand." She began but stopped as the patient followed the nurse into my office.  
"Abigail, it's nice to see you. This is Dr. Holden-Shepherd, why don't you take a seat?" I smiled. She hesitantly sat in the seat across from mine and Kathleen took the seat beside her.  
"Is everything ok with the baby?" She asked.  
"That's what I need to talk to you about. Your baby is ancephalic which means that the baby has no brain." I said gently.  
"So can you like put on in it? Like when it's born?" She asked innocently.  
"No, I'm sorry but you can't. What would happen would be that the baby would be born and would pass away once the brain and the heart caught up to each other. You have a few options." I told her.  
"Ok, what are they?" She asked her voice shaking on the verge of tears.  
"Well, you can carry the baby to term and then you can hold it until it's passed or then you can have an abortion and that's that." I said as gently as possible.  
"I want an abortion." She said numbly.  
"Are you sure?" I asked.  
"Yes but I don't want my parents to find out. They can't find out please don't tell them." She begged.  
"Legally I can't tell them but sweetie, you're going to want to have a good support system with whatever you choose and I think you should tell them." I said.  
"It's going to be hard no matter what you choose and you're going to want to talk to someone." Kathleen agreed reaching for her hand. Abigail hesitantly took it.  
"She's going to hate me and if my school finds out I'm pregnant I will be kicked out. No one can know." She began crying.  
"I know it feels like your mom would hate you right now but trust me, with past experiences, moms might get mad but they will be glad you told them once they find out." I told her.  
"I just really want the abortion." She said again. "Before it's too late to have it."  
"We can set up an appointment for sometime next week." I told her.  
"And I would like to set up a few appointments with you just so we can talk." Kathleen said gently.  
"I'd like that." She said to Kathleen. "And next week will be fine."  
"Everything is going to be ok." I assured her.  
"Go to the front desk and they can set up appointments for you." Kathleen said.  
"Ok." She answered getting up. Before she left I gave her a hug giving her someone to care about her through this all. "Thank you Dr. Shepherd. For everything."  
"No thanks are necessary." I told her as I let go. "I will see you next week."  
"Bye." She said leaving the office and heading to the lobby.  
"She took that exceptionally well." Kathleen stated.  
"Well she was leaning towards an abortion anyway and I think that gave her a reason to go through with it." I agreed.  
"So you get to take the kiddos home for the weekend?" She asked happily.  
"Yes and I can't even explain to you how happy I am." I beamed.  
"I have to admit I'm super jealous that mom gets to meet them tonight and I have to wait until next weekend." She pouted.  
"Oh come on Kate, it's not that far away." I assured.  
"Yeah but still, I'm so excited for my 3 to meet them. They are too, Emma couldn't quit going on and on about having a girl cousin her age."  
"I can already see her and Lacy becoming best friends." I smiled.  
"I bet the boys will get along too. With Noah being a year older than Caleb and Barrett a year younger, they should have loads of fun together."  
"Oh, it's almost 4:00! I've got to get going. I will see you later Kate!"  
"See you Monday! Tell those precious babies that their Aunt Kate is super excited to meet them!"  
"I will. I will tell you how everything goes I promise."  
"Good luck!"  
"Thanks!" I said getting up and making my way back to the car. I was going to meet Derek at our house before picking up the kids so I needed to get there quickly if we were going to get the kids by 5:00.  
After what seemed like an eternity I finally pulled into the driveway right as Derek was pulling in behind me. He got out of his car and headed over to mine. After he quickly checked to make sure the car seat for Lacy was still installed correctly, we made our way to the group home.  
As soon as we pulled up the door was thrown open before we even got out of the car. Little Lacy cam running up to the car and threw herself into my arms as soon as I got out.  
"Why hello little Ms. Lacy." I said cheerfully picking her up as she wrapped her arms around my neck.  
"I missed you." She said holding me tighter.  
"We've missed you too." Derek told her as she reached her little arms to him to be held.  
He took her from me just as Caleb came to me and gave me a hug. "We're really excited to spend the weekend with you." He told me.  
"And we are so excited to have you come with us for the weekend." I told him.  
Susan came out of the house with their tiny little suitcases. "Have fun this weekend and be good." She told them.  
"We will." They promised her.  
"Ready to go?" I asked.  
"YEAH!" Lacy cheered still from Derek's arms.  
"Well then we should get going." Derek answered her. After making sure the kids were all settled in the car and ready to go, we pulled out of the driveway and began the journey home.  
"We have someone coming to meet you two tonight." I told them.  
"Really? Who?" Lacy asked excitedly.  
"It's my mom. You can call her nana if you would like." Derek answered smiling.  
"Can I ask you something?" Lacy asked.  
"Anything sweetie." I answered.  
"Are you both going to be my mommy and daddy?" Lacy sounded hopeful and almost pleading.  
"We hope so." Derek answered kindly.  
"What do you mean hope?" Caleb asked.  
"Well, if all goes well this weekend, then yes we will be your parents." I told them.  
"Does that mean I can call you mommy and daddy?" Lacy asked sweetly causing my heart to literally melt right there.  
"If you want to but you don't have to unless you want to." Derek told her.  
"I want to." She told us.  
"Can I too?" Caleb asked nervously.  
"Of course buddy." I answered.  
"Caleb and I were talking last night and we love you both a ton." Lacy told us causing me to tear up.  
"We love you both too." I told them as tears flooded through my eyes.  
"Are you sad?" Caleb asked.  
"No baby, I'm just really happy and sometimes when I'm happy I cry." I explained.  
"Oh, I'm really happy too." He said smiling.  
We pulled up to the house and I turned and smiled at them. "Welcome home angels." I told them.  
"Woah." Caleb said.  
"It's a mansion!" Lacy announced.  
Derek laughed. "Not quite but it's pretty big."  
"It's pretty!" Lacy cheered.  
I smiled "Would you like to see the inside?" I asked.  
"Yes please." Caleb answered.  
We lead them inside and to the foyer first. Lacy's eyes went big at the little fountain in the middle and the marble staircases that lead upstairs. "It's so cool!" She smiled.  
"Let's see the rest of the house shall we?" I asked.  
We made our way through the living room, den, kitchen, dining room, our bedroom, and the guest bedroom before heading to the backyard. Their eyes were huge at the sight of it and seeing the pool, hot tub, trampoline, basketball goal, hammock, and newly installed play set. "WOW!" They both exclaimed.  
"It's SO cool!" Caleb said.  
"Can we go swimming?" Lacy asked bouncing up and down.  
"How about after dinner?" I suggested.  
"Ok." They both said.  
We headed back inside and up stairs. We showed them the guest rooms to the left and then went to the side of the hallway that was for them. "These rooms are your rooms." Derek explained.  
"So since we can't wait much longer I'll take Lacy to her room and Caleb, Derek can show you yours." I told them.  
"Ok." Lacy said dropping Derek's hand and taking mine.  
I lead her into her room we had just finished yesterday and her jaw dropped. "Is this for me?" She asked taking it all in.  
We had put a vanity over the white trundle bed which had lavender sheets with a pink and yellow quilt and lime green and aqua pillows. The bed was full of baby dolls and teddy bears. We had also put a dollhouse neighborhood up in one corner and set up a nursery for her baby doll that looks real. There was a little white table with white chairs so she could color and have tea parties and there was a white toy chest. There was also a play kitchen with tons of play food and dishes. The walk in closet was filled with the clothes and the dresser and shoe racks. She had her own bathroom that was painted yellow and aqua blue. There was one other surprise for her that she doesn't know about yet.  
"It is." I answered. "Follow me I want to show you something." I told her.  
She followed me into the closet and to a little area with a curtain over it. I pulled it aside and crawled into the small room. It was a little library and reading room we had set up. It was complete with two book shelves and three bean bags and on the lilac walls there were quotes in white. "It's my own library!" She exclaimed.  
"Do you like it?" I asked her.  
"I LOVE it!" She yelled throwing herself in my arms.  
The doorbell interrupted our sweet moment. "That must be Nana. Would you like to come meet her?" I asked pushing the stray curl out of her face.  
"Yes please!" She said excitedly.  
I carried her through the hallway and down the stairs closely followed by Derek and Caleb. I opened the door to reveal my mother-in-law holding her famous macaroni and cheese in a casserole dish.  
"Mom." Derek greeted taking the dish from her hands and kissing her cheek. "I would like you to meet Lacy and Caleb." He introduced. Caleb hesitantly peeked from his new place behind my legs.  
"Hi there." She greeted ever so sweetly.  
"Nana!" Lacy cheered reaching her arms out. Carolyn gladly took her from mine and held Lacy who clung to her like a baby bear. Caleb finally submerged from behind my legs.  
"Hi." He said quietly.  
"Hello Caleb. It's nice to meet you." Carolyn said. "And nice to see you Addie."  
"Nice to see you too mom." I answered.  
"Well, let's head to the kitchen and get started on dinner." Derek suggested.  
"Sounds lovely." Carolyn smiled. We all walked into the kitchen and I pulled the chicken out of the fridge for Derek to grill.  
"Would you two like to show Nana your new rooms while we get dinner ready?" I asked.  
"Yeah!" They both cheered as Carolyn put down Lacy and followed the kids upstairs.  
"They sure do like ma." Derek stated.  
"Yes they do." I agreed.  
Dinner went by smoothly and the kids devoured the macaroni. After dinner we were going upstairs to get them changed into swimsuits when suddenly Caleb started crying.  
Derek crouched down to his level. "What's wrong buddy?" Caleb shook his head. "Hey you can tell me." Derek said.  
"I don't want to take my shirt off." Caleb said.  
Carolyn and I looked at each other curiously. "I'll take Lacy and get her changed." Carolyn said taking her hand.  
"Why not buddy?" Derek asked as soon as it was just the three of us.  
He shook his head. "We aren't going to be angry or upset with you or anything." I promised.  
"He hurt me." He finally admitted.  
"Who hurt you buddy?" I asked.  
"My dad hurt me. I'm sorry I didn't mean to let him." He said shaking now.  
"Hey, buddy it's not your fault." Derek said taking him into his arms. Caleb started to cry. "It's not your fault at all." He whispered to him.  
"Is that how your cheek got hurt?" I asked gently. He nodded his head. "Can Derek and I see your back?" I asked. He hesitantly nodded and Derek loosened his grasp so we could pull up his shirt.  
I had to try very hard to hide my emotions as I saw scar after scar from what looks like cigarette burns. "Did he burn you buddy?" Derek asked  
"Yes." Caleb admitted.  
"We're you afraid we would be mad if we saw? Is that why you don't want to go swimming?" I asked. He nodded. "No on could ever be mad about this, not mad at you anyway. If you want to go swimming, I promise no one will be mad." I assured him.  
"Ok then I want to go swimming." He admitted.  
"Let's go get you changed." Derek said as I made my room to change into a swimsuit myself.  
Once everyone was ready, we all went on a family swim. The kids had fun splashing each other and just being kids and they both wore themselves out. Carolyn insisted on tucking them in and then she left leaving me and Derek to ourselves. Once we were showered and dressed in pajamas we laid down for a good night of sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4  
Addison POV  
It's early Saturday morning and the kids are in the middle of eating their strawberry, blueberry, banana pancakes. The night went very smoothly and I am enjoying the time with the kids even more than I imagined. Today, Derek is taking Caleb fishing and I am taking Lacy to the American Girl Mall to get a doll. We figured it would be a good time for us to spend some one on one with the kids. Once they finished eating, I took Lacy upstairs to get dressed.  
"What would you like to wear?" I asked her opening the door to the closet. She looked around pondering this decision for a while before a pretty dress caught her eye.  
"I like this!" She exclaimed pointing to a light blue sundress with small dark blue flowers.  
"That's very pretty." I told her. "What about shoes?"  
She adorably put her little finger on her chin and looked over the shoes on the shoe rack. "These!" She exclaimed pulling the pair of navy blue converse off the shelf.  
"Very good choice." I told her smiling.  
I got her all dressed and then asked "How would you like your hair?"  
"Can I have a French fishtail?" She asked.  
"Why if course my dear." I said as I began running my fingers through her curly locks.  
"Addie?" She asked.  
"Yes sweetie?"  
"How are you so good at hair?"  
"Well, I have nieces so I decided I should try and learn." I explained.  
"What are their names?" She asked.  
"Well, Aunt Nancy has Hazel who is 10, Aunt Kate has Emma who is your age, and Aunt Liz has Sadie who is 3 and Willow who is 11." I explained.  
"Are their any boys?" She wondered.  
"Actually yes. Aunt Nancy has Porter who is your age, Aunt Kate has Noah who is 11 and Barrett who is 9, and then Aunt Liz has Sebastian who is 7."  
"Are they all my cousins?" She asked hopefully.  
"Yes they are." I said smiling as I finished her hair.  
"There's a lot of them, are they nice?"  
"Very." I promised. "Would you like a ribbon in your hair?"  
"Yes pretty please." She said sweetly.  
I grabbed a light blue ribbon off of the vanity in the closet and tied it in a bow on the end of the fishtail. "It looks pretty, would you like to see?" I asked.  
"Yeah!"  
I took a picture on my phone and handed it to her. "Do you like it?" I asked.  
"It's really pretty!" She exclaimed.  
"You're really pretty." I told her kissing her head causing her to giggle. "Ready to go?" I asked.  
"Where are we going?" She asked.  
"It's a surprise." I told her.  
"Ok I like surprises." She agreed. We told the boys goodbye and got in my car.  
"Do you like any particular music?" I asked her.  
"I like Disney music and Selena Gomez." She said excitedly.  
"It just so happens that I have one of Sadie's Disney CDs in the car. Are you familiar with the princess and the frog?" I asked her.  
"I love that movie!" She squealed. I laughed and put in the CD.  
"I like it too. We will have to get it and watch it."  
"Really?" She asked excitedly.  
"Why of course." I told her.  
"Are you a good singer?" She asked me causing me to laugh.  
"Not really. Derek is and he can play the guitar but unfortunately I'm not. Why?"  
"Just curious."  
"Do you like singing?"  
"Yeah, one day, I'm going to be on broadway." She said happily.  
"Really? What show?"  
"Wicked. I'm going to be Glinda."  
"Wow that's a very good goal. Do you want to sing me something?" I asked,  
"Yeah!"  
"Go ahead." I urged.  
"Whenever I see someone less fortunate than I, and lets face it, who isn't less fortunate than I? My tender heart begins to bleed." She sang all of popular from wicked sounding more and more amazing with every single note. When have finished I smiled.  
"That was amazing! I believe you would make the perfect Glinda." I exclaimed truthfully.  
"Addie?"  
"Yes angel?"  
"Will you take me to see Wicked soon?" She asked.  
"Of course." I said as we entered the city.  
"We are fling into the city?" She pondered.  
"Yes we are. We have a big day planned." I said smiling. I drove for a little bit before pulling into a parking garage. "We will get a taxi to the place." I promised.  
"I'm so excited! Will you tell me where yet?" She begged.  
"It won't be long." I promised parking the car and lifting her into my arms. I carried her through the parking garage and to the busy streets of the city waving for a taxi. I was lucky as one pulled up to us. I opened the door and got in with Lacy.  
"Where to?" The driver asked.  
"The American Girl Mall." I answered receiving a squeal from Lacy.  
"Really!?" She asked excitedly.  
"Yes my dear I thought it would be fun."  
"Thank you, thanks you, thank you!"she shrieked causing me to laugh.  
"You're very welcome?" I said as the taxi driver began to drive.  
"She looks just like you." He informed me causing me to grin like a moron.  
"Thank you." I told him.  
We pulled up in front of the store in no time and I helped Lacy out of the car. We started by picking out her doll, one with the same strawberry blonde hair and crystal blue eyes as her. We then bought about 20 outfits for the doll one that came with an outfit for Lacy and finished by eating lunch in the tea room with the doll. Lacy was extremely grateful and excited about having the doll which she named Primrose. We had a great first mommy/daughter day.

Derek POV  
Once we had everything loaded in the car, Caleb and I headed out to my favorite fishing spot. It took no time to arrive and we both grabbed all the fishing stuff and headed to a place on the side of a rock. Caleb had a flawless cast as we both sat waiting for a bite. "You've been pretty quiet today, is something bothering you?" I asked him.  
"A little bit." He admitted.  
"What is it?" I asked a bit concerned.  
"Will I have the scars forever? And what about my face? Will it ever get better?" He asked breaking my heart.  
"Actually I don't think so. My best friend and soon to be brother-in-law Mark is an amazing plastic surgeon and I think he could fix both if you wanted him to." I told him.  
"Really?" He asked hopefully.  
"Yeah but only if you want him to."  
"I want him to, all it does is remind me of what he did to me."  
"Do you want to talk about it?"  
"Yeah." He answered nervously.  
"I'm all ears."  
"My dad used to get drunk and when he got drunk he got mean. He would hit me a lot with his belt sometimes or his fists. He liked to burn me with his cigarettes. One day he was really drunk and he tried to grab Lacy so I knew I had to stop him because Lacy wasn't as tough as I was and that's when he hit my face. It knocked me out so he took me to the hospital. They told him I needed surgery but we didn't have money so he wouldn't get it for me. He told them I got hit with a baseball and they believed him. The next time he hit me he also hit Lacy and I knew I had to tell someone so Lacy wouldn't get hurt so I told my teacher and we were taken from him and he was sent to jail. I still have dreams about it sometimes and I'm really scared that he's going to find me and hurt me when he gets out of jail." He admitted to me tears escaping his eyes.  
I held back the anger I felt towards this monster that hurt MY son. I knew my anger would only upset him more. I did all I could and wrapped an arm around him as he buried his head into my chest and sobbed. I got both fishing rods out of the water and took him in my arms allowing him to sob in my arms. My son was hurting and I had to do all I could to comfort him. I knew one day he would need to talk to Kathleen to get passed all of this but for now, I am what he needs. "I will never let him hurt you or Lacy ever again." I promised. "I love you."  
We stayed like this for an hour before Caleb calmed down and we went back to fishing. Caleb cheered up ad temporarily forgot about the abuse the moment he reeled in the first catch of the day, a pretty big bass.  
We continued fishing for a while until it was time to eat our picnic lunch Addison had packed. We laughed and are the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches before I decided to take Caleb to the other half of his day, the Yankee stadium. We loaded everything in the car and drove to the stadium. "Woah is this where the Yankees play?" He asked amazed.  
"Indeed it is. Wanna explore?" I asked.  
"We can explore?!" He asked amazed.  
"Addison knows the owner who is going to give us a private tour." I told him.  
"That's so cool!" He exclaimed.  
"Let's go." I said getting out of the car.  
After touring the stadium and hitting a baseball on the field, we both bought Yankee jerseys and season tickets. We got in the car and made the drive home. We found the girls painting their toenails, eating popcorn, and watching some Disney movie. Caleb and I decided to play basketball in the backyard.  
"I'm not very good." He admitted as I passed him the ball.  
"That's ok I can help you." I promised.  
"Ok."  
I taught him the technique of shooting only to learn that he's a natural and we played until 9:30 when it was time for bed. I decided to tuck in Lacy and Addison Caleb.  
I carried Lacy up to her room and put Lacy in her bed. "Derek?" She asked.  
"Yes princess?"  
"Addie says your good at singing and guitar." She announced.  
"I wouldn't say good but I can do both." I told her.  
"Will you sing me a lullaby?" She asked batting her gorgeous eyes. She had me wrapped around her finger and she knew it too.  
"I guess so, let me go get my guitar." I told her.  
"Yay!" She said clapping her hands.  
I grabbed my guitar from one of the guest rooms and went back to hers. I sat on her bed. "I set out on a narrow way, many years ago, hoping I would find true love on the broken road, well I got lost a time or two, wiped my brow kept pushing through..." I sang the whole song as she fell asleep on the last words.  
I kissed her sweet little forehead and tuned out the lights heading to my room. "Let me guess, she wanted a lullaby?" Addison asked.  
"You got it. So how was your day with Lacy?"  
"Really fun. She loved the doll. What about your day with Caleb?"  
"Amazing actually. He opened up to me about the abuse." I told her.  
"How bad was it?" She asked hesitantly.  
"It was pretty bad." I admitted. "Their father was a drunk and used to hit them. That's what happened to his cheek. He was trying to protect Lacy and he got hit. He finally told after one night when there dad actually did get to Lacy and now he's in jail but Caleb has nightmares and is still afraid of being hurt."  
"Poor baby." Addison said.  
"I held him while he sobbed for close to an hour."  
"He needed that." She told me.  
"It's going to be a long road but we can do it together." I told her.  
With that we turned of the lights and laid in bed thinking of the days to come.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 4:  
Addison POV  
Today is the day the adoption will be finalized. Derek and I couldn't be more excited and neither could the kids. We got to the courthouse extra early to sign the papers just in case their was any chance of us getting them even an hour earlier than we are supposed to. We sat with the kids and their social worker anxiously awaiting our name to he called. "Shepherd." A man said.  
The five of us got up and followed the bailiff into a judge's office. After shaking his hand and introducing ourselves we signed the papers and Caleb and Lacy were officially our children. Lacy had a huge grin on her face as I picked her up and Caleb and Derek joined us for our first official family group bug. We thanked the judge and got into the car. "Where are we doing now?" Caleb asked.  
"Well, we are taking you both for a checkup with my sister. She's a pediatrician and treats all of your cousins." Derek explained.  
"We get to meet Aunt Liz!?" Lacy asked excitedly. She knew a lot about Derek's family since she was a big question asker.  
"Yes you do." I told her.  
"And probably your other aunts too since they all work at our practice." Derek added.  
"YAY!" Lacy cheered.  
"And you have an appointment with Uncle Mark after the check up," Derek told Caleb.  
"Really?" He asked hopefully. He was anxious to get his scars and face healed up. He had opened up to me about some of the concerns he had about it too.  
"Yes you do." I told him.  
"Can he really fix me face?" He asked.  
"He's very good."  
"Is he married to Aunt Amy?" Lacy asked.  
"He's engaged to her." I answered.  
"What does that mean?" She asked.  
"It means they are going to get married soon." I smiled at the thought of Mark and Amy getting married.  
"A wedding!? I love weddings!" Lacy said excitedly.  
"You've never even been to a wedding Lace." Caleb told her.  
"I saw one on TV and it was really pretty!" She argued.  
"Well you two are both going to get to go to Aunt Amy's wedding." Derek told them.  
"Yay!" Lacy cheered.  
I smiled at her enthusiasm. Before I knew it, we pulled into my reserved space at the practice. We helped the kids out of the car and lead them through the back door for staff only of the practice. We took them into my office to wait on Lizzie and let them play around on my computer. I sent Lizzie a quick text to tell her we were here. Derek and I laughed as Lacy tried to convince Caleb that the online My Little Pony game would be a wise investment of their time. We were saved of having to break up that argument as Lizzie knocked and opened the door.  
Lacy got out of the chair and ran right over to her. "Aunt Lizzie!" She exclaimed running to Lizzie's awaiting arms.  
"You must be Lacy. You are even cuter in person!" Lizzie said as she picked up Lacy. "And you Caleb, are extremely handsome." Caleb smiled and made his way to greet Lizzie too. Children always leeched onto Lizzie but it surprised me that Caleb was being less shy. Maybe he's getting over the fears he has had. Once Lacy finally let go of Lizzie, we followed her to the scale.  
"Can I go first!?" Lacy asked excitedly.  
"Of course you can." Lizzie smiled. "Take off your shoes." Lacy sat on the ground and pulled off her shoes and got on the scale. Lizzie adjusted the weigh first and kept going lower and lower. "30 pounds." Lizzie sighed. I knew she was light when I picked her up but 30 pounds was way to thin. "Stand up straight so I can get your height." Lizzie asked. Lacy gladly stood up straight as Lizzie measured her "3ft 4in, my you are tall." Lizzie said happily causing Lacy to giggle. Lacy got off the scale and sat putting her shoes back on. Lacy needs to gain about 8 pounds to be healthy. Caleb took her place on the scale as Lizzie finished writing down Lacy's numbers and weighed Caleb. "57 pounds" Lizzie announced. That was better than Lacy's weight but still not great for Caleb's age "and 4ft 6in." Lizzie finished. Caleb got off the scale and pulled his shoes on too and we followed Lizzie into an exam room.  
"Can I go firs this time?" Caleb asked.  
"Why yes you can Caleb. Hop up on the table." Lizzie answered. Caleb climbed up on the table as Lizzie picked up the thermometer from the counter behind her. "Open up." She said. Caleb opened his mouth and Lizzie put the thermometer in his mouth as she put the blood pressure cup on his arm. "Everything is normal here." Lizzie told us taking the cuff of his arm. She pulled out her stethoscope and checked his heart and lungs and then checked his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. She finished by pushing on his stomach to make sure everything was fine there. "You seem healthy as a horse except that you need to gain some weight." She told him.  
"Does that mean I can eat junk food?" Caleb asked hopefully.  
Lizzie smiled "I guess so."  
Caleb grinned widely as he hopped off the table. Caleb took the other seat by Derek and myself as Lizzie lifted Lacy onto the table. "Do you get to take my temperature too?" Lacy asked as curious as always.  
"Indeed I do, open up." Lizzie said placing the thermometer in her mouth and taking her blood pressure. Lizzie's check up went as smoothly as Caleb's and the only problem was that she needed to gain weight as well. The kids told Lizzie goodbye and got stickers for being good. We took the kids to Mark's wing of the practice and to his office to wait on him.  
Mark opened the door a Lacy greeted him the same way she had Lizzie. "Uncle Mark!" She yelled and ran to him wrapping her arms around him.  
Mark smiled and picked her up. "You must be princess Lacy." Mark said.  
She giggled "I've been excited to meet you." Lacy told him.  
"It's nice to meet you too Caleb." Mark said.  
Caleb wandered over to him. "Are you going to fix me?" He asked hesitantly.  
Mark put down Lacy and bent down to his level. "I'm going to do my best pal." Mark assured him. "Let's get you to an exam room and get a better look."  
"Ok." Caleb answered.  
We followed Mark to a room he used only for his pediatric patients. "Actually I'm going to get a quick X-ray first, follow me this way Caleb. You all can wait right here we will only take a second." Mark promised as he and Caleb left the room. Someone knocked on the door a few seconds later.  
"Come in." I called.  
Amelia was on the other side. "Oh hey, I was looking for Mark." She said.  
"Aunt Amy!" Lacy called and yet again through herself into the awaiting arms of another family member.  
"Lacy! It's nice to meet you."  
"Aunt Amy, I like you and I'm bored of sitting here. Can I come play with you until Caleb is done?" She asked causing me and Derek to laugh.  
"Side if its ok with Derek and Addison." Amelia said looking at us for approval.  
"Of course it is." I answered for us.  
"We will just be in my office playing games." Amelia assured us. She and Lacy left and Derek and I sat waiting for Mark and Caleb.  
The door opened to reveal Mark and Caleb laughing. Mark put the X-rays up on the light board. "So what I'm seeing here is a shattered check bone." Mark began. "The best way to fix it is to just rebuild it."  
"And you think you can do that?" I asked.  
"I don't think, I know." He answered. "I've done similar procedures before on countless occasions and it should be no trouble to do this one."  
"What kid of complications could we be looking at?" Derek asked.  
"Well theirs always a risk going under, there's a risk of bleeding, infection, and we will more than likely have to do a follow up surgery or two since he is still growing." Mark explained.  
"When would be the best time to do it?" I asked.  
"I would say after the family trip to the Hamptons so he has time to heal before next school year." Marks answered.  
"What about my back? Can you get rid of the scars?" Caleb asked.  
"Let's take a look shall we? Lie down on your stomach." Mark told him. Caleb laid down on the table and Mark lifted up his shirt. I winced again at the sight of the burns. Mark ran his fingers over the scars. "I'm going to give you a cream for your parents to rub on these twice a day and it should heal these up straight away."  
"Really?" Caleb asked.  
"Really. You will look good as new." Mark promised.  
"Thank you." Caleb said sitting up on the table.  
"Anytime pal. So your dad says you are great at baseball. We will have to go play sometime soon." Mark told him.  
"Sounds like fun." Derek agreed.  
"I can beat you both!" Caleb announced.  
We all laughed and said goodbye to Mark. After prying Lacy away from Amelia, we all headed home from a long day away. We cooked dinner and then had a family swim before it was time for the kids to go to bed. Derek sang another lullaby to Lacy causing me to have tears of happiness fall from my eyes  
It was overall a pretty great first official day as a family.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 5:

Addison POV

Today the kids are meeting their remaining aunts and all of their uncles. Tomorrow we have invited all the cousins over for a pool party. We are taking them over to Nancy's where she and Kathleen have planned a lunch and play day for them. Lacy is as excited as ever and Caleb has begun to get used to the idea of meeting and having a family. Our days have become slightly routine but Derek and I still alternate taking days off to spend with the kids. We have decided after a few weeks we will join the rest of the family and take Lacy and Caleb to stay with Carolyn so we can go back to work but for now, this works . Derek and I are both taking today off though. We have decided it will be easier to meet the family with us both there to support the kids. I heard little footsteps enter the kitchen and turned to see Lacy rubbing her little eyes.

"Good morning sweetie, your up early." I said to her as I continued cooking the waffles.

"I had a bad dream." She said softly.

"Oh baby, I'm so sorry. Want to help me cook to get your mind off of it?" I asked happily.

"Yes please." She answered politely.

I lifted her up on the counter and handed her the bowel of batter. "Here you stir."

She grinned at me and began stirring the bowel of batter. "I like cooking." She told me. "Where's Derek?"

"He is still sleeping, why don't you go wake him up?" I suggested.

"Ok!" She yelled hopping off the counter.

I smiled as I heard her run through the hallway and throw open the door to our room. "Wake up! It's morning!" I heard her perky little song voice all the way from the kitchen. I couldn't help but smile at her sweet voice. I heard her giggle fill the halls and I knew she and Derek were in another tickle war. I took the last of the waffles off the waffle iron and placed them on the plate as Derek entered carrying Lacy.

"Is Caleb still asleep?" Derek asked.

"Yes he is, would you mind waking him up for me?"

"Of course I will." Derek said putting Lacy in her chair and heading out of the kitchen.

"Addie?" She asked sweetly.

"Yes baby?"

"Why was our old daddy so mean?" She asked breaking my heart.

I took the seat beside her and put my hand on her back. "Your old daddy was sick. He drank something called alcohol and if you drink too much you get mean." I explained.

"Do you and Derek drink alcohol?" She asked concerned.

"Sometimes but never, ever, enough to make us mean." I promised.

"You won't ever be like daddy was?" She asked.

"Never in a million years."

"Ok good because he was really mean. He used to be nice but then our old mommy got sick and he got mean." I was very curious about her birth mother so I decided to let her further explain. "She had some cancer or something and she had to be in the hospital and one day she died. It's ok though, she's in heaven."

My heart literally broke into a million pieces. "I'm sure she is." I assured.

"Can I have a waffle now?" She asked changing the subject. "I'm hungry and can't wait much longer."

I smiled. "Of course you can angel." I put a plate with a waffle and strawberries in front of her and quickly cut it up.

"Smells yummy." Caleb said taking his seat my Lacy.

"I hope it is." I told him putting a plate in front of him as well.

"It's very yummy." Lacy assured filling her mouth again.

"Are you two excited to meet Aunt Kate and Aunt Nancy?" Derek asked them as he too got settled in one of the bar stools.

"VERY excited!" Lacy exclaimed.

"Me too." Caleb added with his mouth full.

"Don't talk with your mouth full." I said out of habit.

"Sorry." He apologized flashing me a grin.

Once breakfast was finished, I took Lacy up to her room to let her pick out yet another adorable outfit. She picked out a purple, light blue, lime green, and white floral print romper and her purple ruffled bikini. I got her dressed and put her hair in pigtails with white ribbons and slid her white flip-flops on her tiny feet. We met the boys by the door who seemed to have been waiting a while in their swim trunks and t-shirts. We piled into the car and began driving to Nancy's house which was fortunately only one neighborhood over.

As soon as we pulled into the driveway, Lacy began bouncing excitedly. I got her out of her seat before she died of excitement and she immediately ran to the door and rang the doorbell. I watched as Kathleen opened the door and Lacy threw herself into her arms making me smile again over her sweet disposition. Caleb made his way up to the door after her and he too greeted Kathleen with a hug. Derek and I got the bag we had packed with extra clothes in case the kids managed to get extremely wet and made our way inside where we could already hear the kids laughing about something Nancy said.

We all went in the backyard and decided it would be a good time to swim. Caleb did a cannon ball from the little waterfall that was set up as a dive rock. Lacy decided to go down the waterslide and swam after her brother. She was an extremely good swimmer especially for a 5 year old. Derek gave me an evil grin and before I could brace myself I was thrown into the pool in my clothes and all. I swam up to the side and glared at Derek causing everyone to laugh. As if he couldn't make me anymore angry at him he jumped in right beside me splashing me with tons of water. He found this hilarious but I found it annoying and decided to take my revenge by pulling him under the water. The kids were giggling uncontrollably as Derek and I play fought in the water. "Do you all want to play chicken?" Derek asked the kids.

"Yeah! I'm so going to win!" Lacy bragged.

Once they were on our heads they began fighting and laughing. Lacy and I only managed to win one round until it was time to go in for lunch. Nancy loaned me some clothes which I gladly changed into and threw mine in the dryer.

We sat down at the table and began eating the barbeque sandwiches and various side items. "Aunt Nancy?" Lacy asked.

"Yes sweetie?" Nancy answered smiling.

"What was Derek like as a kid?" She asked causing Nancy and Kathleen to both laugh.

"He was a nerd that's for sure." Nancy answered.

"He used to love race cars and robots." Kathleen added.

"Don't forget the dinosaur phase." Nancy added in.

I looked over to Derek who was blushing cherry red. "Enough let's not make too much of a fool of me." Derek mumbled.

"Oh is wittle Dewek embawesed?" Kathleen asked in a baby voice.

Derek rolled his eyes. "You know that was old when we were teenagers and its ancient now. Just like you sis." Derek said sarcastically.

"Hey! I am NOT that old!" Kathleen argued.

Derek laughed as he threw his arms up in defeat. The rest of the day with Kathleen and Nancy went very well and the kids didn't want to leave but after assuring them that they would be over tomorrow for the pool party, we managed to drag them to the car. Both kids fell asleep in the car on the way home after being worn out from swimming under the hot July sun so we put them in bed and hit the hay ourselves.

I woke up the next morning and quickly threw on my swimsuit and a dress over it and began cooking enough food for an army in the kitchen. For only having a few nieces and nephews, they all sure could eat. I made some lasagna, some chicken tenders, a few homemade pizzas, some macaroni and cheese, and some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. I had just finished making the kids some omelets as they and Derek arrived simultaneously and sat at the table. They ate the omelets very quickly and then Lacy and Caleb ran upstairs to clean up their bedrooms before company arrived.

"Is everything ready for the family?" Derek asked wrapping his arms around my waist from behind.

"Indeed it is." I answered turning my head to kiss his lips ever so quickly.

"I love it when you do that." He said flashing his famous smile at me.

"I love you." I told him.

We both laughed a bit before he spun me around and we began dancing in the kitchen. Lacy and Caleb came back and both giggled. "Will you teach us to dance?" Caleb asked.

"Of course we will pal." I told him. "Here I will be your partner and Derek can be Lacy's."

Caleb came over to me and we began dancing. "All you have to do is move with the music." I said just as Derek turned on the radio.

We stayed dancing and laughing in the kitchen for a long time before I realized the family would begin arriving any minute. "We've got to get ready." I told the kids as Lacy and I made our way to her room. I got her in an adorable pink and white swimsuit with a skirt and slipped a sundress like cover-up on her.

We heard the doorbell ring and Lacy squealed. "That's someone!" She yelled running down the stairs to greet whoever was at the door. I followed her closely and watched as she opened the door to reveal Kathleen, Michael, Emma, Noah, and Barrett. "Aunt Kate!" She yelled throwing herself into Kathleen's arms.

"Why hello Lacy." Kathleen said making Lacy smile. "I want you to meet some people. This is Uncle Mike" she pointed at Michael who waved and smiled, "Barrett" she pointed at my dark haired nephew with grey eyes who waved, "Noah and Emma" she said towards my smiling niece and nephew.

Kathleen put Lacy down who took Emma's hand. "I want to show you my room!" She squealed as Emma giggled.

"Ok let's go!" Emma said happily.

I smiled after them as Caleb made his way down the stairs. Everyone finally arrived and all the kids began swimming and having a good time as they got to know Caleb and Lacy better. The adults decided to sit for some adult talk on the patio where we could still see and hear the kids.

"So how are they adjusting?" Kathleen asked.

"They seem to be adjusting very well." Derek answered.

"They are getting more and more accustomed to the idea of having a family." I finished.

"That's good at least. Any luck getting their weights up?" Lizzie asked.

"We're working on it and slowly but surely are achieving our goal." I answered.

"Are they opening up at all?" Nancy asked.

Derek and I looked at each other for a moment before he answered. "Yes but it wasn't easy to hear."

"What do you mean?" Kathleen asked.

"It was just a worse situation than we initially thought. Some of the things they've been through, the things they've seen, it's horrible." I said as Derek took my hand.

"Their father was a drunk and used to beat Caleb and when he tried to defend Lacy he would hit him harder. He used to burn the poor kid and threatened him if he told anyone that he would kill him. It only stopped because one time their father did hurt Lacy and Caleb knew he had to tell or that Lacy could be hurt worse." Derek finished.

"They seem to be doing well given the circumstances." Michael pointed out.

"They are but it still haunts me to know that's on their minds." I sighed.

"It's got to be difficult." Travis, Nancy's husband chimed in.

"We are all here for all of you. I barely even know the kids but I already love them." Nicholas, Lizzie's husband stated.

"And trust me, they love you, especially Lacy. She can't quit talking about all of you." Derek told him.

"She is one of the most adorable kids I've ever seen." Lizzie said. "And her personality is just so sweet."

"She is very outgoing." I added. "And energetic."

"Just like every Shepherd kid." Carolyn smiled.

"They are perfect for us." I smiled.

The kids all had a blast with their cousins and before long; it was time for everyone to go home. We promised the kids they would see each other again very soon especially since the Hamptons trip is just around the corner.

"Emma is my best friend." Lacy assured us as soon as it was just the four of us.

"I'm so glad." I told her happily.

"I really like Barrett and Noah. They said they'd help me learn the perfect way to throw a football." Caleb said.

"I'm glad you two had fun but unfortunately it's time for bed." Derek told them.

"Will you sing to me again?" Lacy asked Derek sweetly.

"Of course baby." Derek answered.

"Can we finish reading Harry Potter?" Caleb asked me.

"Yes we can! I'm just as excited as you." I told him as we made our way to his room.

I read him the final chapter of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone before kissing his forehead and turning off the light. As I walked down the hallway I could faintly hear Derek singing Hallelujah to Lacy. I smiled as I made my way to my room and closed my eyes reflecting on how great of a day I had been fortunate enough to enjoy.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7:

Addison POV

We finally had everything packed for the trip to the Hamptons and are meeting the rest of the family at Carolyn's to carpool. Lacy has made sure that we know that Emma and Porter are riding in the same car with her and Caleb has said the same thing about Noah and Barrett. The kids are very excited seeing as it is their first time to see our beach house and to be on vacation with the whole family. It's technically our first vacation as a family with them too and I'm very excited to take some much needed time off work to spend time with my family. The alarm went off and Derek woke from his peaceful slumber to grumble as he began frantically hitting around his night stand to turn it off. I laughed and messed with his hair. "Derek, wake up. It's time to leave for the Hamptons. We still have to shower and get the kids ready." I said ever so sweetly.

He responded by cuddling close to me and wrapping his arm around my waist. He would never admit it but Derek Shepherd is a huge cuddle bunny. "Let's skip the trip and stay like this all weekend." He mumbled tightening his grip.

"As lovely as that would be, no because we need to leave soon and it's your job to get the luggage in the car while I wake up our beautiful children." I smiled as I kissed his forehead.

He grumbled but rolled out of bed and into the bathroom to shower. I left my ever so comfy bed and went upstairs and to Caleb's room first. I opened the door and walked over to his bed turning on the lamp on his bedside table seeing as it was so early the sun had yet to rise. "Wake up my prince." I said messing with his hair.

He yawned and opened his bright blue eyes. "Five more minutes." He said sleepily.

"No pal, we've got to get up and get you dressed." I said kissing his forehead and getting up to turn on his light. I made my way to his closet and pulled out his red shorts and a white polo shirt. I grabbed his grey converse and some red sock to match and headed back over to him waking up my sleepy son once again. I helped him pull on his clothes seeing as he was so tired he was going to fall asleep at any moment and finally managed to get him out of bed and sent him to the car where I told him he could sleep until we got to Nana's.

I turned off his light and closed his door making my way to Lacy's bedroom. I went to her closet and picked out a pair of her pink denim floral print shorts and a white tank top accompanied with a pair of pink flip flops. I smiled as I made my way over to her sweet sleepy self and rubbed her little arm. "Little Miss Lacy, time to wake up, we're leaving for the beach soon."

She opened her precious blue eyes and smiled at me. "Morning." She said mid way through a yawn.

"Good morning angel." I told her. "Let's get you dressed and to the car."

I managed to get her dressed and to French braid her hair in under 10 minutes and I carried her sleepy little self to the car strapping her in beside her now sleeping brother. I smiled at them both and went to make sure Derek didn't need any help.

I helped load the last two bags into the car before climbing in as Derek made sure all the lights were off, alarms were on, and doors were locked. We finally pulled out and began the quick drive to Carolyn's house. We arrived last of the group but with a minute to spare. Most of Derek's family got everywhere early but we settled to be right on time. I woke up my two angels and we all filed out of the car.

"Look who finally decided to show up." Michael joked as we joined the circle that our family had formed. I looked around to realize all my nieces and nephews were in about the same state as my own children.

"Hey, we were fashionably late." I contradicted making everyone crack a smile.

"We have already made car assignments but we figured you wouldn't mind." Travis informed us.

"We don't. Just tell us where we are riding and who is driving." Derek answered.

"Let's see here, Derek and Addison you two are in our car with Caleb, Barrett, Noah, Sebastian, Liz, and myself." Nicholas told us. "And Lacy, you are with Sadie, Willow, Porter, Emma, Nana, Aunt Nancy, and Uncle Travis in Nancy's car. Then you have Kate, Mike, Amy, and Mark who are not on kid duty on the way up so they will be taking all the luggage in Kathleen's car."

"Sounds good." I said seeing Lacy's grin as she learned who she would get to ride with.

After getting the enormous number of bags and other various luggage items into the right car and having everyone pile into the designated cars, we set off on the hour and a half drive to our homes in the Hamptons.

The boys made sure to try and annoy us by sing "99 bottles of milk on the wall" since according to Sebastian beer was a bad word and asking if we were there yet every 5 minutes. I was hoping they would tire out and fall asleep but I was wrong. They sang, and sang, and sang verse after verse until Lizzie had the most amazing idea to put a movie in. The rest of the ride was spent in silence except for the sounds of Star Wars.

The ride was all worth it when I got to see our beach house again. I admired it's beautiful gardens in front of the three story colonial style home that our house keepers had done an amazing job of keeping up. Kathleen and Mike's house was next door to the right of us and Lizzie and Nicholas's to the left. Then you had Carolyn's beside Lizzie's and Amy's beside Carolyn's and then to the right of Lizzie's was Nancy's. All of our driveways actually connect to each other because we had all bought the plots of land and built our dream homes on them. When you stepped out of the back door onto the porch, you had the option to continue straight out and step onto the beach right near the shore or to step to the left and into the pool area. We owned the beach areas too all the way from Nancy's house to Amy's. Mike and Derek unloaded our luggage first and we got Lacy and Caleb out of the cars and into the home to see it for the very first time. As they walked in, their eyes were in pure admiration seeing the open floor plan of the first floor. They wandered from the office, to the kitchen, down the two steps to the living room, up the two steps to the open room which lead to the porch and through the gorgeous dining room decorated to make you feel as if you were in a five star resort. We lead them upstairs to see all the bedrooms. There was a pink bedroom with two twin beds, a vanity, and two small closets which Lacy claimed as her own, a blue bedroom which was similar but a bit to girl for Caleb's liking, but he was quickly happy to see the room that was originally for the nephews which had bunk beds and a train set. We helped them get all their clothes in the closets and chests of drawers before settling our own things and unpacking all of the toys into the used to be empty room which would now serve as a play room.

Our house served as the meeting house seeing as it was in the middle and the biggest which could house us all on its own if we desired it to. We knew that the cousins would all want to hit the beach as soon as they were allowed to so we got Caleb and Lacy changed into swimsuits and coated them in sunscreen. Sure enough, family began pouring into the house all with swimsuits and the scent of freshly lathered sun screen.

We set the ground rules with the kids about beach usage. No going in the water unless an adult is outside, no going past either of the boundary houses, no going any further than shoulder deep unless accompanied by an adult, and basic rules like that. As soon as all the rules were in place the kids began to run their separate ways on the beach. I looked out to see Caleb learning how to boogie board from Noah and Barrett. Lacy, Emma, and Porter were finding sea shells and taking them to Carolyn so she could tell them how pretty they were. The rest of the kids were all working on a sandcastle and burying each other in the sand. Derek again wrapped his arms around my waist. "This is nice." He said.

"Yes it is." I agreed.

I saw Lacy, Emma, and Porter go into the ocean for the first time giggling and splashing each other with the cool water. I focused my attention on Caleb who had his very first successful boogie board ride but my attention quickly drifted from him as I heard a tiny high pitched scream.

My head snapped around to Lacy and Derek and I took off running simultaneously towards our now sobbing and screaming daughter. Travis beat us to her and we saw him pick her up carefully out of the water and place her on the sand as every adult quickly ran to her side. "MOMMY! DADDY!" She screamed. My heart broke as I heard those two words and I quickly went to hold my little girl. I looked at her leg and realized why she was screaming. There was a jellyfish wrapped around her tiny little leg.

"I'm going to rinse it with salt water and then get the tentacles off." Travis said as he carefully poured a small amount of the ocean's water onto to remaining tentacles. He carefully but quickly used a large shell to get them off and throw them aside. By this time the remaining adults were all standing around and Lizzie was crouched down to examine Lacy's leg.

"She's getting a rash; we need to get her to the hospital." Lizzie said in a voice of authority but not in such a manner to scare sweet little Lacy.

Derek picked her up and we carried her to the car leaving Carolyn, Mark, Amy, and Nicholas to watch the kids while the rest of us drove Lacy to the hospital.

I held Lacy wrapped up in a beach towel in the waiting room of the ER as Lizzie explained that we were all doctors and all we needed was an exam room and argued with a nurse but finally got her way. We carried Lacy to the exam room where I continued holding her as Lizzie started an IV and drew some blood. Lacy cried a little but stayed brave through it all.

Lizzie asked a local doctor to come in and he was able to identify the type of jellyfish which was not deadly but they suspected she was allergic to. After staying a few hours under observation with the whole family still in tow, she was finally released to go home since we were all doctors and would be observing her all night. We finally got to take our baby home and laid her down in our bed. "I love you mommy, I love you daddy." She said as she closed her eyes. I had tears in my own as those sweet words came from my baby's mouth. The words might have originally come due to a painful reason which was bittersweet at the time but now has become like pure sugar. It felt amazing to be called mommy and I could tell Derek was beaming with happiness. We smiled at each other as we watched our perfect little angel peacefully breathe. Nancy texted me to tell me that Caleb was having a sleepover with all the boy cousins at Amy and Mark's place which made me happy that he would be having fun even though we had to monitor Lacy. I rubbed her sweet little back as I dozed into a peaceful slumber of my own.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

The vacation continued as normal once we all woke up today. Lacy was extremely skeptical to go back in the water but Derek told her that nothing else would hurt her so she would go in but only if an adult was holding her hand. She was a little fighter through the whole thing and we rewarded her with a little beach bag filled with new things to make sand castles with. That's what we are doing right now, making a sand castle.

"Mommy look." She said piling the third level of the castle on top. That word still tugged on my heart but I loved hearing it.

"That's very pretty honey." I said smiling at her as Emma put another bucket of sand beside it.

"This is going to be the very best sand castle in the whole wide world." Emma said excitedly.

"It needs a mote." Porter added.

He got a shovel and began digging around the castle. "LOOK!" Emma said pointing to the ocean. "Dolphins!"

Emma got up and ran to the water to get a better look with Lacy and Porter quick on his heels. I stood up and made my way over to Kathleen who was supervising the boys boogie boarding. "She's a trooper." Kathleen pointed out.

"Yes she is. She is very brave too." I smiled at my little girl splashing in the water with her cousins.

"I'm glad they are all getting along so well and Caleb with the boys. It's like they've been here all along." Kathleen grinned at Noah who had just managed to boogie board all the way into the sand. "Good job sweet heart!" She cheered in the voice she used at all of the kids' sports games.

"I actually wanted to talk to you about Caleb." I said sitting beside her on the other half of the towel.

"Ok shoot."

"I'm just so worried about him. He always has it in the back of his mind that he was abused and I don't know I'm just being…" I began.

"A mom." Kathleen smiled at me. "Addie, your being a mom, it's completely normal to worry about your children. I know what you mean though about him. The surgery will help some so he doesn't have a daily reminder but I think it will take a while to undo the damage."

"You think that he will forget one day?" I asked.

"I'm not sure forgetting is the right way to deal with it. I think he needs to accept the fact that he was abused and know that you and Derek will never abuse him. If he were to just block it out of his memory it would all come back one day and upset him."

"That's a good point, I just hope he knows that we would never hurt him."

"In the back of his mind he probably does but he needs to see firsthand it won't happen. He might also need the verbal confirmation from you and Derek. Have you tried talking about all of this with him?"

"We figured we should just let him bring it up and tell us what he's comfortable telling us."

"And that's fine for now but if you really want to help him, you need to flat out tell him you will never hurt him. You don't have to ask for all the details of the abuse but just make sure he knows you love him, you will protect him, and neither of you will ever hurt him no matter how mad you get at him. I'll tell you what, why don't I take Lacy with me tonight for a sleepover and give you and Derek some time alone with Caleb?"

"I think that's a good idea. It would definitely give us some time to talk to him alone which we have barely had."

"I think we are all going to go out to eat dinner at the Pirate restaurant tonight so we can just make sure Lacy gets to our house instead of yours."

"Sounds good." I told her looking up to see Caleb and the boys play wrestling. "Careful!" I warned causing them to smile innocently at me.

"You sure do have this mom thing down." Kathleen assured me.

"It's just kind of come naturally."

"That's good."

Kathleen and I spent the rest of our kid duty tanning as we supervised the kids in the ocean and soon it was time for lunch. We rounded in the troops and headed to Carolyn's where she and Lizzie had prepared macaroni and cheese and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Once we all finished eating, I moved from my post on the beach to my new post at the pool with Derek. Caleb arrived a little while into our "shift" and came to sit by us.

"Hey pal, are you ok?" Derek asked.

"I guess so." He shrugged.

"You can talk to us if something is wrong." I assured him.

"I just don't understand." He told us.

"What don't you understand?" I asked.

"I keep remembering things. I never did before but now I remember it all the time." He said wrapping his arms around his knees.

"What kinds of things?" Derek asked. Caleb shook his head and stared into the pool. "You can tell us you know that right?"

"I know I can tell you but I don't want to make you sad." He said causing my heart to get heavy.

"It won't make us sad, I promise." I told him.

He brought his eyes up and turned to look at us. "I keep remembering things my dad would do to me. Everywhere I go I see him and remember him. I can't get away. Even eating a stupid sandwich reminds me of how he wouldn't let us eat. It's so real too! Like for a split second I forgot that he wasn't still here. I can still feel him hit me when I think about it! I can't take it anymore! It hurts! I hate him! I hate him I hate him I hate him! I wish he was dead!" He screamed tears pouring out of his eyes. I saw Kathleen, Michael, Amy, and Mark stop dead in their tracks to jump in the pool. "Everything's going to be ok." I tried.

"It's not going to be ok! He's always going to be able to hurt me! He's always going to be in my memories! I'm never going to forget what he did to me!" He cried causing my heart to break.

"Buddy he can't hurt you." Derek tried.

"But he CAN! He will always be able to hurt me! He hurts me in my dreams! It feels really real!" he was sobbing at this point and Derek and I looked at each other unsure of what we should do.

I reached my hand slowly to be on his back as he cried and eventually wrapped his arms around me crying. "I love you. I love you so much buddy. I'll never quit loving you." I promised him. I had tears beginning to come out of my eyes as I saw my little boy in this much pain.

Derek wrapped his arms around us both kissing Caleb's head. "We will never let him hurt you." Derek promised.

"And we will NEVER hurt you. No matter how angry or upset we are, we will NEVER hurt you." I promised as I held him tighter. I looked up to see that more of the family had submerged and were all standing watching us try to comfort our little boy.

"I'm sorry." Caleb mumbled.

"What for?" I asked softly.

"I made you sad." He said.

I rubbed his back. "It's no trouble, I'm not that sad. I'm just worried about you."

"You're worried about me?" Caleb asked shocked at the statement.

"I'll always worry about you and your sister, it's what I do." I told him.

"She's speaking the truth, she never quits worrying." Derek joked making Caleb have a giggle escape. "What was that? Was that a laugh?" Derek asked as he tickled Caleb making him laugh hysterically.

"Dad stop!" Caleb tested out between laughs.

Derek reacted by pulling all three of us into the pool and beginning a splash war between him and Caleb but I did get caught in the cross fire. We played in the pool laughing and playing for what seemed like no time at all but had to be awhile because before long, it was time to get cleaned up for dinner. I happily ran upstairs first to lay out Caleb's clothes so I would be allowed to pick them. I picked the yellow shorts with a light blue button down and his brown flip flops laying everything on his bed before heading into Lacy's room where she was already waiting patiently for me. I decided to coordinate their outfits and picked a light blue sundress with a yellow sash and her white sandals. I put her hair into a waterfall braid and told her to go ahead downstairs and play until it was time to go.

I forced Derek to where a light blue button down and khaki shorts as I pulled on a yellow sundress so we would be all matching. We all sat in the living room, watching Spongebob, and waited for the family to arrive. I was spared my sanity as everyone was here on time before we could even finish a single episode of the show. We all piled into the cars and drove to the pirate ship shaped restaurant. The kids insisted that we all wear the complimentary pirate hats while we waited for the dinner show to begin.

The show wasn't to terribly annoying and Lacy, Emma, Noah, and Caleb were all chosen to be in a scene which made them all very excited. We got some cute photos and some great food out of it and also, some very overpriced souvenirs. We finally made the journey to our houses, dropping of Lacy with Kathleen, and returning to ours home with Caleb.

We decided to take this time to talk to him about things we could do to help him. We sat on the couch with him in-between us and I hesitantly brought up the topic. "Caleb, I want to start by telling you that you can come to Derek and me with any problems you have. Even if you think we will be mad because we will never hurt you."

"I know." He said.

"And you never need to worry about making us sad because sadness is only a temporary emotion and we will not stay sad forever." Derek promised.

"Ok."

"We want to make something clear, no matter what you do, no matter how bad you are, we will never harm you. We might punish you by taking something away or grounding you but we will never hurt you." I explained.

"And if we every yell, which Addison and I have both been known for, it does not mean that we are going to hurt you." Derek promised.

"And if you ever get in trouble with any of our family members, none of them will hurt you either. We all love and care about you." I told him.

"You mean so much to us pal, you can't even understand yet, but you mean the world to us." Derek told him.

"Thank you. You all mean the world to me too." Caleb said smiling.

"Now for the hard part." I told him. "We aren't going to make you, but we think it would be good for you to open up to us about your past little by little so we can learn how to help you." I explained. "It's easier to help if we know what we are helping."

"I don't like to talk about it usually because it makes me remember more." He said.

"We understand but just know that we will listen and not be angry and will try and help you." Derek said.

"I will one day but for now I can't." He told us.

"We respect that." I told him.

"Thank you." He said.

"For what?" I asked.

"For adopting me, and Lacy. For being here for me. For bringing me on vacation. For giving me a family. For being my mom and my dad. I love you." He said melting my heart.

"I love you too buddy." I said taking him in my arms.

"I love you so much pal." Derek added in joining in on the hug.

He yawned. "Tired?" I asked him.

"Very. May I go to bed?" He asked.

"Of course." I told him.

He began to leave the living room to head for the stairs but stopped and turned around. "Night mom, night dad." He said before making his way upstairs.

I turned to look at Derek. "That went well." I told him.

"Yes it did."

"I love those two so much. I wish we had had them sooner."

"We have them now, that is what counts. We can't change the past, only the future."

"And they will have a very happy future with us." I promised.

We left the room and headed up stairs for our bedroom both changing into pajamas and cuddling up to try and get some sleep for another day on the beach that was sure to come tomorrow.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9  
Addison POV  
We finally arrived home from the delightful vacation in the Hamptons. I missed the serenity of the cool ocean breeze and hot beautiful white sand but I am glad to be home and to be transitioning back into our normal schedule. We have scheduled Caleb's surgery for tomorrow afternoon and to say I am nervous would be the understatement of a century. I'm not just nervous, I'm a train wreck. As a surgeon I know the risks of most surgeries this having no exception to that. As a physician I would be confident in Mark's capability but as a parent, I will never be confident in someone's capability when it comes to my children. Derek is acting as if he is not nervous but having known him for years I can see right through his brave front and into his worried mind. Caleb is being very brave. He tells us even if Mark can't fix him at least he tried. We explained to him that it will hurt when he wakes up but my wise little boy simply responded with nothing can ever hurt as much as looking into the mirror and being reminded someone hated you enough to hurt you. Lacy has assured Caleb that she will find the very best balloons and will personally pick out ice cream flavored. I know she doesn't fully understand about the surgery but she does understand that Caleb won't look how he looks now afterwards and that he won't be able to play for a little while.

Another thing that has changed since we arrived home is the children's schedule. They have joined their cousins in going to stay at Carolyn's while we are at work and love every minute of it. They go swimming, to the zoo, to the park, and occasionally drive into the city for a musical or to see the Statue of Liberty. Caleb has begun talking to Kathleen twice a week and even after the first two sessions I am already seeing improvement in him. He is more accepting and willing to talk and has stopped bottling in his emotions. I am beginning to feel like I am the children's actual mother, biological that is, due to the close bonds I have formed with them. Derek is no exception to this. He sets a portion of his day aside to spend individually with each kid. Some days he teaches Caleb new fishing techniques or how to play the guitar and recently they've started to practice baseball and basketball. With Lacy, he has been teaching her a different bone in the body every night because she has expressed her desire to be a doctor and be finishes by reading her a few books and singing her a lullaby or two. I have started to do the same. I teach Lacy about ballet and have started to help her pick up tennis and I still read a Harry Potter chapter to Caleb every night before bed. Lacy and Caleb have bonded our family together is so many ways I can't even imagine what would have happened without them.

I was finally able to put my mind to ease thinking of happy thought of the children and was able to curl up next to Derek and fall asleep.

I was awaken the next morning by the sound of my alarm clock which seemed extraordinarily early this morning. Derek and I had to get the kids up, take Lacy to Kathleen's, and get Caleb to the hospital for pre-op within a few hours. The rest of the family would join us in time to say goodbye to Caleb and sit in the waiting room with us as we awaited information.

I swatted at the alarm for a few seconds before it finally turned off and I gently played with Derek's hair. "Derek it's time to get up." I said sweetly.

"Good morning." He said stretching his arms and yawning.

"You get cleaned up while I get the kids." I told him as he sat up in bed.

"Sounds good." He said kissing my cheek and heading towards the bathroom.

I made my way out of bed and to Lacy's room. I walked up to her and turned on her lamp sitting on the bed. "Come on angel time to wake up." I said sweetly.

She opened her tired blue eyes but still managed to smile at me. "Morning mommy."

"Good morning baby, it's time to wake up and go to Aunt Kate's house." I said.

"Ok." She said sitting up.

I got up off her bed and headed to the closet where I grabbed her purple romper with elephants on it and her purple TOMS to match. I headed back into her room and quickly dressed her and fixed her hair into a French braid with a purple bow on the bottom. I sent her down to play with Derek so I could wake Caleb up.

I headed to Caleb's room where I found him already awake. "You're already up?" I asked my usually non morning son.

"I couldn't really sleep." He admitted shrugging.

"I'm sorry buddy. Lets get you into the pajamas you want to wear to the hospital and we will get going." I said trying to not let any of my fears show.

"Ok." He said.

I walked over to his closet and found the outfit we had laid out last night. It was a pair of Green Lantern pajama pants accompanied by a matching shirt. I headed out to him and helped him get dressed.

"Mom?" He asked nervously.

"Yes buddy?"

"What if I die?" He asked causing me to stop dead in my tracks.

"You won't die." I promised him. "What made you think that?"

He shrugged. "I don't know I just don't want to."

"I promise you that you will not die, not for a long time." I said taking him into my arms.

"I love you." He told me.

"I love you too." I smiled.

Together we waled downstairs and piled in the car making the short drive to Kathleen's. we all decided to get out since we were a bit early. We knocked on the door which Michael was soon to answer.

"Uncle Mike!" Both kids exclaimed wrapping their arms around him. He is one of their favorite people and they adore spending time with him.

"Hey kids," he said. "Sweet pajamas Caleb! I love the Green Lantern."

"Thanks." Caleb answered.

Kathleen made her way down the stairs looking a bit sleepy with her reading glasses on and a cup of coffee in her hand. "Hello kiddos." She smiled.

"Good morning Aunt Kate." Caleb said going to her to hug her.

"Morning Aunt Kate!" Lacy exclaimed joining in.

After spending a little but of time with Kate and Michael while their kids were all still sleeping, we made our way to the hospital and to the pediatric floor where we got Caleb all signed in and into a hospital room. Derek and I kept him company as they did the routine pre op tests and prepped him for surgery and before long, it was time for the family to come say goodbye, or more likely goodnight, before surgery. Everyone gave Caleb hugs and wished him luck as he kept on his brave face. Mark arrived last ready to take Caleb into the OR.

I kissed his forehead. "I will be waiting for you when you wake up." I promised.

"You're gonna do great." Derek told him hugging him.

We watched as Mark and a few residents wheeled our little boy out of the hospital room and we made our way to the waiting room to patiently wait with our family.

A few hours later, Mark arrived in the waiting room. We all stood up anxiously awaiting what news he had for us. "He is doing just fine and I was able to completely repair his cheek bone, but there was a complication." Mark said.

"A complication? What complication?" Derek asked anxiously.

"His heart stopped during surgery for about 20 seconds. He is doing fine now and the cause is still unknown." He explained to us. My heart stopped hearing that statement.

"Can we see him?" I asked.

"Of course just keep in mind he is going to be in a lot of pain when he wakes up so be prepared. It will be completely normal so try your best to keep him calm and make him feel safe." Mark said.

Derek and I followed Mark back to the room where I rushed to his bedside taking his hand. "It's ok buddy mommy is here." I whispered.

Derek walked up behind me and we waited for our little fighter to wake up. As if he knew what we were here for he opened his big eyes and I heard the beeping on the monitor pick up as he began sobbing and screaming.

"Calm down buddy, I know it hurts but you have to calm down." Derek said taking him into his arms.

"Make it STOP!" He screamed.

"It's going to be ok." I promised rubbing his back with my hand. "Try and breathe for me ok?"

His sobs turned to little tears as he began listening to me and Derek. Mark began examining him and trying his best to comfort him as well.

Derek and I spent the night in the plastic chairs in Caleb's hospital room both daring anyone to suggest that we leave. Our little guy was fixed but he was in pain and it was unbearable to watch. I held my emotions together so I wouldn't upset him anymore and finally amazed to go to sleep listening to the even beeping on the machines.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Addison POV

It has been a few weeks since Caleb had his surgery and he is almost completely healed. It is the week leading up to the Fourth of July so we are planning a big pool party for the whole family complete with lots of food and fireworks. The kids are very excited to have their first Fourth of July with us. We have decided to make the party into a sort of competition with tug of war and relay races. We are also spending this week preparing for Amy and Mark's wedding which is next Saturday at the country club. Lacy has earned a spot as one of the flower girls and Caleb is going to be a ring bearer. They are both ecstatic to be in the wedding and even don't mind being dragged from store to store to pick out their outfits. The wedding colors are different shades of purple. Caleb was slightly objected to the purple at first but gave in once Mark assured him purple is cool.

I glanced out of the kitchen window as I continued cutting up vegetables to see Derek and the kids playing in the pool, splashing each other and laughing. They really had been good for us and I like to think we've been good for them. Every time I hear the word mommy addressed towards me I still can't help smiling like an idiot. I finished cutting up the vegetables and put them in the pot of beef stew I was making for lunch and made my way outside.

"Mommy!" Lacy yelled getting out of the pool and throwing her wet self into my arms. "Mommy can we go to Build-A-Bear? Daddy said to ask you."

"Maybe father lunch." I told her. "We still have a ton to do to get ready for the party."

"Ok!" She cheered knowing usually when I told her maybe that more than likely meant yes.

"Hey mom?" I heard Caleb ask.

"Yes buddy?" I asked him placing a hand on his head.

"Can I go talk to Aunt Kate?" He asked nervously. "I need to talk to her."

"I think we can arrange that." I said knowing if he wasn't upset he wouldn't be asking. "I can see if it's ok with her if I drop you off while Lacy and I go to build-a-bear."

"Does that mean we get to go?" Lacy asked excitedly.

"Yes sweetie, that means we get to go." I said smiling at her. "Which means, you two both need to get into some dry clothes. Let's go inside. Derek call Kate and see if it's ok for Caleb to come over!" I called to my husband who was now drying off outside of the pool.

"Will do!" He called back taking his phone out.

I went inside with Lacy and Caleb and headed upstairs. Caleb went to his room and I took Lacy to hers. I found her a yellow and white sundress and quickly braided her still wet hair into pigtails. "Mommy?" She asked curiously.

"Yes baby?"

"Why does Caleb talk to Aunt Kate so much?" She asked innocently.

"Well, he remembers things sometimes and they make him sad. Aunt Kate is a doctor that is really good at helping people who are sad." I explained.

"Does he remember what daddy used to do?" She asked.

"Do you remember what your daddy used to do?" I asked.

"Not much, only one time."

"What happened?" I asked curiously.

"Daddy tried to hurt me so Caleb stopped him."

"Do you think about it a lot?" I asked her beginning to wonder if we should have had both kids talking to Kathleen.

"Not a lot but I have dreams about it sometimes. They are scary." She shook her little head as if trying to clear it. She had been having bad dreams and I hadn't even noticed.

"Do you think it would help you to talk to Aunt Kate about it? Do the dreams make you sad?" I asked.

"They don't make me sad really." She admitted looking into my eyes with her crystal blue ones. "They just kind of scare me."

"How do they scare you?" I asked.

"Well, sometimes it makes me think that my old dad is going to come back and take us away and then hurt us more."

"I promise you, daddy and I will never let that happen."

"I know it's just what my dreams make me think."

"Will you promise me something?" I asked her smiling.

"Ok."

"Will you promise to tell me when you have bad dreams from now on?" I asked.

"Ok I promise." She said sweetly.

"Ok sounds good." I told her.

I helped Lacy up off the floor and knocked on Caleb's door. "Come in." He called.

I pushed the door open and saw my sweet little boy in brown cargo shorts and a light blue polo shirt. "You ready?" I asked him.

"Yeah." He said walking over to me. I turned out his light and went downstairs where I saw Derek setting up various tables around the house.

"Derek, we'll be back. Did you call Kate?" I called to him.

"Yes and she's expecting Caleb so everything's a go. Is there anything you need me to do while you're gone?" He asked entering the foyer.

"Finish setting up the tables and decorations and that should be good." I told him as I pecked his lips setting Lacy down.

"I will see you three later." He told us.

"By daddy." Lacy said hugging him.

"See you later dad." Caleb called.

We piled into the car and made the quick journey to Kathleen's house. I got out of the car with both kids so I could talk to Kathleen for a second. Michael greeted us at the door and gave both kids hugs. "How are two of my favorite people today?" He asked making them smile.

"Good! Guess what Uncle Mike! Mommy's going to take me to build-a-bear!" Lacy cheered bouncing up and down out of excitement causing me to laugh. Kathleen came into view with Emma, Noah, and Barrett quick in tow.

"Kate, can I talk to you for a second?" I asked as the kids greeted each other.

"Yeah of course." She smiled. She and I both went into the kitchen alone now. "What's going on?" She asked.

"I think Lacy remembers more than we thought." I told her.

"Did she say something?" Kathleen asked slightly worried.

"She said she has dreams about when Caleb stopped their birth father from hurting her. She didn't say much more except that she was afraid that her birth father would come back and try and take them. I promised her that Derek and I would never let that happen."

"Do you want me to start talking to her as well?" She asked.

"I don't think it could hurt."

"We will set something up." She promised me. "Where are you off to with Lacy?"

"Oh, build-a-bear, actually, I was wondering if Emma would like to come with us." I answered.

"She would love that, just don't spoil her too much." Kathleen laughed probably thinking of the last time I kidnapped her daughter for shopping and came back with a multitude of bags.

"No promises there." I smiled.

"Emma! Come here for a second!" Kathleen called.

"Yes mommy?" my little brunette niece with ocean blue eyes asked kindly

"How would you like to go to build-a-bear with Aunt Addie and Lacy?" She asked.

"REALLY?! CAN I!? PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE?!" She begged.

"Of course you can sweetie go get on your shoes first." Kathleen answered smiling.

"Ok!" She cheered running up the stairs. Her personality explained why Lacy and she were best friends. It's because they are the same bundle of happy energy.

"I'll talk to Caleb and see what's bugging him. Why don't I just bring him over when it's time to come over for the party?"

"Sounds good and I'll just watch Emma until then too."

I left with both girls in tow and after getting them settled in the car, left for the mall. We arrived as both girls became more and more excited bouncing up and down as I lead them through the crowded mall and to build-a-bear.

The girls picked twin bunnies that they stuffed and dressed up like pop stars. We walked back to the car and loaded the boxes into the trunk before driving home.

Lacy and Emma both ran upstairs to play as soon as we got home so Derek and I spent the time we had finishing up the final details for the Fourth of July get together. Before long, the family had all arrived and I was dressing both girls in their patriotic swimsuits and dresses braiding their hair and accessorizing with red white and blue ribbons.

The kids all began playing in the pool and I decided to take the opportunity to talk to Kathleen. I made my way over to where she and Michael were sitting watching the kids. "Is he ok?" I asked talking about Caleb.

"He's getting there." She told me looking at me. "It's still going to be a long journey."

Derek came up behind me and took the seat next to Michael. "But he will get better right?" I asked nervously.

"With time, he will get better." Kathleen promised.

"I'm worried about him." I admitted.

"We both are." Derek added.

"He went through a trauma; it's going to take time to get over it. You're doing everything right in the mean time, giving him love and support. With time this will work."

"I just feel helpless." I said as Derek put his arm around me. "I feel like what I'm doing isn't good enough."

"But it is. It's all you can do for now." Kathleen told us.

"He's doing better than I expected." Michael added in.

"I just wish he had never gone through it." I said shaking my head.

"You can't change the past…" Kathleen began.

"Only the future." Derek finished. "We get that it's just hard."

"Everything will be alright. In time it will all be ok."

Kathleen did make me feel some better as we continued the various activities. It got dark enough for fireworks so the whole family sat down on blankets away from the launching area where the men of the family were having fun setting things on fire.

The first bang of the fireworks sounded and Lacy jumped into my arms from her spot beside me. She buried her head into my chest. "Do you want to go inside?" I asked her as she began crying. She nodded. "Ok baby let's go."

I carried Lacy inside and sat her on the counter in the kitchen. "I'm sorry momma they scared me."

"Hey, no need to apologize." I told her. "How about we just watch from in here where it's not so loud."

"Ok." She said.

I took her into my arms and sat on the couch in front of the glass door. She dozed off in my arms as I rocked her gently watching the fireworks. It had been a good Fourth of July.

**I apologize for the time it took me to update and the suckiness of this chapter. I had my wisdom teeth out last Friday and am still sort of out of it and my mouth hurts like crap. I'll try to update soon and hopefully have a MUCH better chapter. I am sorry but anyway, I hope this was slightly decent.**


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